(ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ) -- SModcastle Cinemas presents Horror Fest 2026 on Saturday, August 8. The festival features seven blocks of independent horror, featuring sinister shorts, creature features, dark comedy, supernatural chills, and plenty of blood-soaked surprises.
Tickets for each block of films are available for purchase online. SModcastle Cinemas is located at 82 First Avenue in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
11:30am - Amygdala; Borglesque; Feast On Fear; Final Trip.
AMYGDALA - When Zoe is attacked by a mysterious woman and begins to experience strange visions, she has only minutes to get help or else uncover the mystery behind the madness that surrounds her.
BORGLESQUE - A greedy burlesque club owner hires a mad scientist to resurrect his most profitable girl, but this she-borg refuses to be an object of men's desires.
Feast On Fear - This horror bumper celebrates the creativity and talent within the festival community. From the original score and cinematography to the practical blood effects, monsters, and makeup, every element was crafted by passionate independent artists. Designed as a love letter to horror filmmaking, the bumper showcases the collaborative spirit and DIY ingenuity that defines us.
Final Trip - Jano wakes up in the back seat of a car on a deserted road, not knowing who he's with or how he got there, but he keeps having scary visions that continue to repeat - the car is going to break down, they walk to a scary cabin, and unless he can find a way to stop the cycle of events, they're all going to die - until the twist ending when he realizes what really happened and where he is.
12:00pm - Follow Me Home; MascLooking; My Severed Arm; The Barn - Part 3
Follow Me Home - The longer Carter remains inside the home, the less certain he becomes that he is uncovering the truth rather than slowly being absorbed into it.
MascLooking - After two friends banter over the pros and cons of using Grindr, one is left chatting with a mysterious stranger. And he's getting closer...
My Severed Arm - A woman tries to escape a serial killer using DIY videos, but the internet won't stop trying to sell her things first.
The Barn - Part 3 - Years after the events of "The Barn Part II", the group still fears that the three evil ones will return to finish the harvest once and for all.
2:00pm - Lebmig's Department Store; Ding, Dong, Die!
Lebmig's Department Store - On her way to a party, Maria stops at the local department store to purchase a new top. What she receives instead is a nightmare that she can never return, exchange, or get store credit for.
Ding, Dong, Die! - Ally Clement is throwing an intimate Halloween party for her closest friends. But before the festivities can really begin, a stranger drops by with a Halloween treat of her own. The mysterious gift turns out to be an ancient curse sealed in a bottle and when it's released, it transforms Ally into the most hideous "mean girl" anyone has ever encountered. Now, Ally's two best friends, Ramona and Lilith, must find a way to exorcise their cursed friend... before her mom gets home.
2:30pm - Dead Roommate; G(l)ory Days; Gooned To Death; Raven's Room; Reflections; The Resonance; Tooth-puller / O Tira-dentes
Dead Roommate - A socially anxious college freshman forms an improbable bond with his new roommate, who died in the dorm half a century ago.
G(L)ORY DAYS - Hulk and Turtleneck have visited the same cabin for decades to rest, relax, and relive their youths... as two of the most infamous slashers to ever wield a knife! But when the lookalike daughter of one of their victims shows up with her girlfriend to get closure, the guys come out of retirement one last time to offer anything but "healing."
Gooned To Death - A man can't stop pleasuring himself.
Raven's Room - A neon-soaked feminist horror thriller about a magnetic stripper named Raven who lures a wealthy, predatory man into a private encounter - only for the power dynamic to slowly, violently invert. It's been years since anything spooky has happened in the town of Helen's Valley, and for good reason. Josh Harper (Courtney Gains of 'Children of the Corn') has dedicated his entire life to making sure those barn dwelling monsters never come back from hell for anyone in the town or his sister, Heather (Kelli Maroney of 'Chopping Mall'). However, something far sinister is lurking in the shadows, trying to resurrect the legend once again.
Reflections - I thought I saw something.
The Resonance - When respected psychologist Sloan Campbell inherits her predecessors last known session tapes before his untimely demise, she discovers a dark and unsettling pattern. As she delves deeper into the center of his final case, a sinister force threatens to blur the line between modern medicine and religion. Will her pursuit for the truth force her to tow a fine line between science and the supernatural, or will she become the next victim of...the resonance.
Tooth-puller / O Tira-dentes - On the night of the national holiday of April 21st (Tiradentes Day), a group of young students breaks into the university where they study in order to play a tabletop RPG game. Throughout the night, they are brutally attacked by a mysterious killer who dresses as Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (the historical figure known as Tiradentes) and who harbors a dark secret involving the political course of Brazil over the last decade.
4:30pm - Banjo; Gimme; Las Hadas de la Sombra; Look At This Freak; Red Ribbons in the House of Stained Glass; Six Sixty Six; The Naughy List; You Have Her Eyes
Banjo - Isaac is thrilled when his friend offers him a family cabin in the woods to lose his virginity. When his first time goes horribly wrong, he suspects the work of a sinister circumcision cult.
Gimme - On the first night of Hanukkah, a grandfather and his estranged granddaughter are pulled into a sinister game of dreidel.
Las Hadas de la Sombra - A desperate mother must keep the peace between her young children and the uncle who begrudgingly hosts them. When her daughter refuses to eat, she tells her a fairy tale about what might come looking for leftovers.
Look At This Freak - A reunion of old friends is disrupted by a hated roommate and an internet monstrosity. After a devastating argument, a man drives to his wife's hometown to make things right—only to discover something deeply wrong with the town and its people.
Red Ribbons in the House of Stained Glass - A small-time journalist tracks down evidence that could expose the sex crimes of a deviant archbishop, but must decide whether she can trust her source—or is risking her life for front-page news.
Six Sixty Six - A hapless stoner must decide how far he is willing to participate in the occult practices of the cute goth girl he is trying to impress.
The Naughty List - A single mom, a daughter's Christmas wish, and criminals with blood on their hands collide. On Christmas Eve, justice arrives as a vengeful Santa on one bloody sleigh ride.
You Have Her Eyes - A woman's fears about having children begin to manifest as visions of her dead grandmother.
5:00pm - Bishop's Day; CHÄIR; Gloria's Cut; Hogwash; Rave; See You In Your Sleep; Terminus; The Pearl Comb
Bishop's Day - Two college coeds break into the long-abandoned Bishop's Barbershop for a night of fun, only to discover that they are not alone.
CHÄIR - Carl just wanted to sit down. The chair had other plans.
Gloria's Cut - In 1995 Hollywood, a determined actress's composure begins to crack as repeated rejection exposes the quiet brutality of the industry she believes in.
Hogwash - A masked killer called the Pig Man delivers a cryptic monologue during a brutal murder, sparking a frenzy of interpretation by media personalities and podcasters in a world desperate to project meaning onto chaos.
RAVE - A masked DJ slices and dices his way through an afterparty in the Hollywood Hills.
See You in Your Sleep - A researcher and a young father participating in a sleep study are haunted by an entity after the experiment takes a dark turn, forcing them to confront their deepest fears.
Terminus - An investigative journalist following the trail of several missing women becomes lost on a desolate, snowy forest road—but she is not alone.
The Pearl Comb - In 1893, a fisherman's wife becomes the first person to cure tuberculosis. A doctor intent on proving that a woman's place is in the home investigates, only to discover the source of her unearthly power.
7:00pm - Edward; Election Night; Haze; The Binding; The Lone Piper; My Only Friend's a Corpse
Edward - Edward is a sideshow performer dealing with a parasitic twin.
Election Night - A demon that feeds on rage goes on a feeding frenzy on the night of a divisive presidential election.
Haze - A kidnapping survivor's recent television appearance attracts the attention of a local journalist.
The Binding - After a failed exorcism, a grieving father does whatever it takes to destroy the entity that took his daughter—even if that means committing an unforgivable sin of his own.
The Lone Piper - In 1759, a Scottish bagpipe player and an Algonquian girl struggle to cope with the horrors of war in a period tale exploring colonialism and xenophobia through folklore.
My Only Friend's a Corpse - A punk runaway finds an undead corpse behind a dumpster. Convinced that humanity can only be saved by killing God, the pair road-trip through a world of monsters, demons, angels, and Midwestern horrors.
